Content-based control system

ABSTRACT

Generally this disclosure describes a method for controlling the operation of a system based on a determination of content that is airing on a channel. A method may include transmitting at least one message including instructions to sample content from a channel, receiving a message indicating that certain content on the channel is complete, and activating a notification indicating that the certain content on the channel is complete. Another method may include receiving a message including instructions to sample content from a channel, sampling content from the channel, transmitting a message including the content sample, receiving a message comprising information related to the content sample, and determining whether certain content is complete on the channel based on the received information.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the technical fields of data processing,more specifically to methods and apparatuses associated withpersonalized video content consumption using shared video device andpersonal device.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwiseindicated herein, the materials described in this section are not priorart to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be priorart by inclusion in this section.

With advances in integrated circuit, computing, networking and othertechnologies, personal devices configured for use by a user, such assmartphones, tablet computers, and so forth, are increasingly popular.Concurrently, shared video devices configured for use by multiple users,such as televisions, or set-top boxes coupled to television remainpopular, in part, because of their increased functionalities, such ashigh-definition video, surround sound, and so forth. Currently, exceptperhaps for the use of a personal device as a conventional remotecontrol to a shared video device, there is little integration orcooperation between personal and shared video devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described by way ofexemplary embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which like references denote similar elements,and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example shared and personaldevices usage arrangement;

FIG. 2 illustrates one example each of a shared video device and apersonal device in further detail;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method of personalized video contentconsumption using shared and personal devices;

FIG. 4 illustrates various examples of facial recognition based methodsof registration and/or association between the shared and personaldevices;

FIG. 5 illustrates a user view of an example personalized video contentconsumption using shared and personal devices;

FIG. 6 illustrates a user view of selected cooperative personalized userfunction provision by the shared and personal devices;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method of cooperative personalizedrecommendation by the shared and personal devices;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium having instructions configured to practice all or selectedaspects of the methods of FIGS. 3-4;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example computing environment suitable for use asa shared or personal device;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of content-based control (CBC) inaccordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of example content-based control (CBC)operations from the perspective of a personal device; and

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of example content-based control (CBC)operations from the perspective of a shared video device.

Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with referencebeing made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modificationsand variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods, apparatuses and storage medium associated with personalizedvideo content consumption using shared and personal devices aredisclosed herein. In various embodiments, a personal device (PD) methodmay include registering, by a personal device of a user, with a sharedvideo device configured for use by multiple users, or associating theshared video device, by the personal device, with the personal device.The PD method may further include, after the registration orassociation, cooperating, by the personal device, with the shared videodevice to facilitate personalized video content consumption by the user.

For example, personalized video content consumption may include acontent-based control method. Content-based control may be activatedautomatically (e.g., when a channel is changed in the shared videodevice) or manually by physical or code-based configuration, by arecognized gesture performed by the user, etc. Content-based control maycause content to be sampled from a channel, and the sample to betransmitted to a remote processing resource (e.g., a cloud server) foridentification. The content samples may be transmitted on apredetermined or configured interval. The personal device may thenreceive a message indicating that certain content (e.g., advertisements)is determined to be complete on the channel. The personal device maythen perform an activity based on the received message. Exampleactivities include activating a user notification on the personaldevice, switching the shared video device back to the channel, etc.

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described usingterms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that alternate embodiments maybe practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes ofexplanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrativeembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatalternate embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Inother instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in ordernot to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Further, various operations will be described as multiple discreteoperations, in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description shouldnot be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in theorder of presentation.

The term “smartphone” as used herein, including the claims, refers to a“mobile phone” with rich functionalities beyond mobile telephony, suchas, personal digital assistant (PDA), media player, cameras, touchscreen, web browsers, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation, WiFi,mobile broadband, and so forth. The term “mobile phone” or variantsthereof, including the claims, refers to mobile electronic device usedto make mobile telephone calls across a wide geographic area, served bymany public cells.

The phrase “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” is used repeatedly.The phrase generally does not refer to the same embodiment; however, itmay. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous,unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrase “A/B” means “A or B”.The phrase “A and/or B” means “(A), (B), or (A and B)”. The phrase “atleast one of A, B and C” means “(A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (Band C) or (A, B and C)”. The phrase “a selected one of A or B,” as usedherein refers to “A” or “B,” and does not in any way imply or require a“selection” operation to be performed.

Referring now to FIG. 1, wherein a block diagram illustrating an exampleshared and personal devices usage arrangement, in accordance withvarious embodiments. As illustrated, arrangement 100 may include sharedvideo device (SVD) 102 configured to receive and render audio/visual(AN) content 134 for use by multiple users, and personal device (PD) 112configured to provide various personal functions, such as mobiletelephony, for use by a user. Further, SVD 102 and PD 112 may berespectively configured with PD cooperation functions 152 and SVDcooperation functions 162, to cooperate with each other to providepersonalized video content consumption, to be described more fullybelow. Except for PD and SVD cooperation functions 152 and 162 providedin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, examples ofSVD 102 may include a multiple device coupled combination of television106 and set-top box 104, or a single device integrated combination oftelevision 106 and set-top box 104, whereas, examples of PD 112 mayinclude mobile phones, smartphones, laptop computers, notebookcomputers, ultrabooks, netbooks, tablet computers, etc. In variousembodiments, television 106 may include a picture-in-picture (PIP)feature with one or more PIP 108, and set-top box 104 may include adigital image capture device 154, such as a camera. Likewise, PD 112 mayalso include a digital image capture device 164, such as a camera.

As illustrated, SVD 102 may be configured to be coupled to, andselectively receive A/V content 134 from one or more A/V content sources(not shown), whereas PD 112 may be configured to be wirelessly 148coupled to cellular communication service 136, via wireless wide areanetwork (WWAN) 120. Examples of A/V content sources may include, but arenot limited to, television programming broadcasters, cable operators,satellite television programming providers, Internet-based programmingproviders, digital video recorders (DVR), compact disc (CD) or digitalvideo disc (DVD) players, or video cassette recorders (VCRs). Cellularcommunication service 136 may be Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)service, Enhanced GPRS (EDGE) service, 3G or 4G service (GPRS=GeneralPacket Radio Service).

Still referring to FIG. 1, in various embodiments, SVD 102 and PD 112may be wirelessly 142 and 144 coupled with each other, via access point110. In turn, access point 110 may further couple SVD 102 and PD 112 toremote cloud computing/web servers 132, via one or more private orpublic networks, including e.g., the Internet 122. In other words, SVD102, PD 112 and access point 110 may form a local area network, such asa home network. Remote cloud computing/web servers 132 may includesearch services, such as Google® or Binge, eCommerce sites, such asAmazon®, or social networking sites, such as Facebook® or MySpace®.Further, in various embodiments, SVD 102 and PD 112 may be respectivelyconfigured to enable the devices to be wirelessly 146 coupled usingpersonal and/or near field communication protocols. In variousembodiments, wireless couplings 142 and 144 may include WiFiconnections, whereas wireless coupling 146 may include a Bluetoothconnection. In various embodiments, PD cooperation functions 152 and SVDcooperation functions 162 may communicate with each other in accordancewith the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Diagram Protocol orother message protocols.

In various embodiments, SVD 102 and PD 112 may have respectivelyassociated identifiers. For the embodiments, where SVD 102 includestelevision 106 with PIP 108, SVD 102 may further include logicalidentifiers respectively identifying the main picture and the PIP 108.Additionally, in various embodiments, the identifiers may berespectively included in at least discovery communications transmittedby SVD 102 and PD 112, to enable receivers of the communications, suchas PD 112 and SVD 102, to be able to discern the senders of thecommunications.

FIG. 2 illustrates one example each of SVD 102 and PD 112 in furtherdetail, in accordance with various embodiments. As shown and describedearlier, SVD 102 may include SVD functions 151 and PD cooperationfunctions 152, whereas PD 112 may include PD functions 161 and SVDcooperation functions 162.

In various embodiments, SVD functions 151 may include one or morecommunication interfaces 202, having respective transceivers, and mediaplayer 204, having one or more A/V decoders. Communication interfaces202, having respective transceivers, may include, but are not limitedto, a communication interface configured to receive A/V content from atelevision programming broadcaster, a cable operator, or a satelliteprogramming provider, an Internet-based programming provide, acommunication interface configured to receive A/V content from a DVR,CD/DVD/Blu-ray player or a VCR, a communication interface configured tocommunicate with access point 110, and/or a communication interfaceconfigured to directly communicate with PD 112. Media player 204, havingone or more A/V decoders, may be configured to decode and render variousA/V content streams. The various A/V decoders may be configured todecode A/V content streams of various formats and/or encoding schemes.

In various embodiments, PD cooperation functions 152 may include a PDregistration/association function 212, a PD video/image/data service 214and a control by PD function 216. Further, PD cooperation functions 152may include facial/gesture recognition function 218 and recommendationfunction 220.

PD registration/association function 212 may be configured to registerSVD 102 with a PD 112 or associate PD 112 with SVD 102. In variousembodiments, registration/association function 212 may be configured toregister/associate SVD 102 with a PD 112 by exchanging messages withidentification and/or configurations. In alternate embodiments,registration/association function 212 may be configured toregister/associate SVD 102 with a PD 112, in cooperation withfacial/gesture recognition service 218, using a facial recognitionservice. In various embodiments, registration/association function 212may be configured to maintain a map of the PD 112 with whom SVD 102 isregistered and/or associated. For various set-top box 104 and television106 embodiments, where television 106 includes a PIP feature with one ormore PIP 108, PD registration/association function 212 may be configuredto register SVD 102 with a PD 112 or associate SVD 102 with a PD 112, ata PIP granularity level, to enable video streams rendered in the mainpicture and PIP 108 to be logically associated with different PD 112.Further, PD registration/association function 212 may be configured tomaintain the earlier described SVD 102 to PD 112 map at a PIPgranularity level. In various embodiments, PD registration/associationfunction 212 may be further configured to maintain the map to include acurrent status of the user of the PD 112, e.g., whether the user isamong the current users of SVD 102. PD registration/association function212 may be configured to update the status as the user becomes a currentuser of SVD 102 (or one of the current users of SVD 102), or ceases tobe a current user of SVD 102.

PD video/image/data service 214 may be configured to enable SVD 102 toexchange, with PD 112, video, image and/or data (e.g., metadata, audioclips/samples, etc.) associated with a video stream being rendered onSVD 102. The video, image and/or data associated with a video stream,provided to PD 112 by SVD 102, may be captured by SVD 102, or obtainedfrom another third party. In particular, PD video/image/data service 214may be configured to capture image clips, video clips, audio clips, etc.from a video stream being rendered on SVD 102 or to capture an imagefrom a camera of SVD 102. In addition to providing to PD 112, thecaptured image, video clip, metadata, audio clips/samples, etc. may bestored and/or provided to PD 112.

Further, PD video/image/data service 214 may be configured to providecaptured image clips, video clips, audio clips, etc. from a video streamto a cloud computing server to identify the video stream (e.g., viavideo search, image search, audio finger search, etc.), and/or to obtainmetadata associated with the video stream. The metadata may be providedby the video stream creator/owner, distributor or associatedadvertisers. The metadata associated with the video stream may also bestored or provided to PD 112. Further, the viewing history may be storedon SVD 102.

Control by PD function 216 may be configured to accept controls from PD112, and in response, control SVD 102 accordingly, to facilitatepersonalized video consumption. Controls may include, but are notlimited to, controlling capturing of an image from a video stream beingrendered on SVD 102, or controlling rendering of a video stream on SVD102, such as stopping, pausing, forwarding or rewinding the videostream. Control by PD function 216 may also be configured to acceptcontrols from PD 112, to control the rendering parameters of a 3DTVvideo stream on SVD 102, to monitor the quality of the 3DTV imagesrendered, etc. Parameter controls may include controlling depth range of3D video. Quality monitoring may include monitoring for problems such asthe existence of non-horizontal parallax, hyper-convergence, colorinconsistency between the left/right views, synchronization issues, etc.

Facial/Gesture Recognition service 218 may be configured to provide anumber of facial recognition and/or gesture recognition services. Facialrecognition services may include recognition of faces in a picture,including age, gender, ethnicity, and so forth. Facial recognitionservices may further include recognition of facial expressions, e.g.,approved, disapproved, interested, disinterested, happy, sad, angry orat peace. Facial recognition may be based on one or more facial orbiometric features. Gesture recognition services may include recognitionof a number of hand gestures, including but are not limited to, a thumbup hand gesture denoting “like,” a thumb down hand gesture denoting“dislike,” two fingers moving away from each other denoting “enlarge,”two fingers moving towards each other denoting “shrink,” two fingers ortwo hands crossing each other denoting “swap”.

Recommendation function 220 may be configured to, individually or incombination with recommendation function 242, provide a user of PD 112with personalized recommendations based on interactions/cooperation withPD 112, using SVD 102, and/or between SVD cooperation functions 162 andPD functions 161. Personalized recommendations may be other contents,other web sites, other advertisements, other goods, etc. of potentialinterest to the user of PD 112.

In various embodiments, PD registration/association function 212 may beconfigured to cooperate with facial/gesture recognition function 218 toeffectuate registration of SVD 102 or logical units of SVD 102 (e.g.,PIP 108, if SVD 102 includes television 106 with PIP 108) with variousPD 112, or association of various PD 112.

The term “association” as used herein refers to a relationship betweentwo entities, e.g., SVD 102 and PD 112, whereas the term “registration”as used herein refers to an action of one entity with another entity,e.g., an “action” for the purpose of forming an “association” betweenthe entities. In other words, the present disclosure anticipates an“association” between SVD 102 and PD 112 may be formed unilaterally orbilaterally. For example, SVD 102, by virtue of its knowledge of aparticular PD 112, such as its identification, may unilaterally considerthe particular PD 112 be associated with the SVD 102, without itselfregistering with the particular PD 112 or requiring the particular PD112 to register with itself. On the other hand, SVD 102 and/or PD 112may explicitly identify themselves to each other (“register”) to formthe association.

Continue to refer to FIG. 2, in various embodiments, PD functions 161may include one or more communication interfaces 222, having respectivetransceivers, media player 224, having one or more A/V decoders, inputdevices 226, and browser 228. Communication interfaces 222 may include acommunication interface configured to communicate with a cellularcommunication service, a communication interface configured tocommunicate with access point 110, and/or a communication interfaceconfigured to directly communicate with SVD 102. Media player 224,having one or more A/V decoders, may be configured to decode and rendervarious A/V content streams. The various A/V decoders may be configuredto decode A/V content streams of various formats and/or encodingschemes.

Input devices 226 may be configured to enable a user of PD 112 toprovide various user inputs. Input devices 226 may include a keyboard(real or virtual) to enable a user to provide textual input, and/or acursor control device, such as a touch pad, a track ball, and so forth.In various embodiments, input devices 226 include video and/or touchsensitive screen to enable a user to provide a gesture input. Gestureinputs may include the same or different hand gesture described earlierwith respect to facial/gesture recognition service 218.

Browser 228 may be configured to enable a user of PD 112 to access aremote search service, an e-commerce site or a social network on theInternet. Examples of a search service may include Google®, Binge and soforth. An e-commerce site may include Amazon®, Best Buy® and so forth.Social network may include Facebook®, MySpace®, and so forth. Browser228 may also be configured to enable the user of PD 112 to participatein a Special Interest Group (SIG) associated with the program of a videostream being rendered on SVD 102. Such SIG may be pre-formed ordynamically formed based on current content being delivered by a contentprovider. Such SIG may also be geographically divided, or by PD devicetypes.

In various embodiments, SVD cooperation functions 162 may include a SVDregistration function 232, a SVD video/data service 234, and a SVDcontrol function 236. SVD cooperation functions 162 may further includerecommendation function 242, and facial/gesture recognition service 244.

SVD registration/association function 232, similar to PDregistration/association function 212 of SVD 102, may be configured toregister PD 112 with a SVD 102, or associate SVD 102 with PD 112. Forvarious set-top box 104 and television 106 embodiments, where television106 includes a PIP feature, SVD registration function 232 may beconfigured to register PD 112 with a SVD 102, or associate SVD 102 withPD 112, at a PIP granularity level, to enable video streams rendered inthe main picture and PIP 108 to be independently associated with thesame or different PD 112.

SVD video/image/data service 234, similar to PD video/image/data service214 of SVD 102, may be configured to exchange with SVD 102, video, imageand/or data (e.g., metadata, audio clips/samples, etc.) associated witha video stream being rendered on SVD 102. Similarly, SVDvideo/image/data service 234 may be configured to send and/or acceptvideo, image and/or data to/from a cloud computing server. SVDvideo/image/data service 234 may be configured to cooperate with browser228 to effectuate the send and accept of video, image and/or datato/from a cloud computing server.

SVD Control 236 may be configured to provide controls to SVD 102 tocontrol SVD 102. As described earlier, with respect to Control by PD 216of SVD 102, controls may include, but are not limited to, enlarging orshrinking a PIP 108, swapping video streams between the main picture anda PIP 108, stop, pause, fast forward or rewind a video stream. SVDControl 236 may also be configured to provide controls to SVD 102 toadjust the rendering of a 3DTV video stream on to control SVD 102, tocontrol its quality. Further, SVD Control 236 may be configured toprovide automatic video stream switching during commercials, andautomatic switch backs, when the commercials are over. SVD Control 236may also be configured to provide controls to SVD 102, to adjust therendering of a 3DTV video stream on SVD 102, to control the quality ofthe 3DTV images rendered. Controls may include control of relative depthbetween the component images, control to reduce color and/or sharpnessdistortion of edges.

Recommendation function 242, similar to recommendation function 220 ofSVD 102, may be configured to, individually or in combination withrecommendation function 220, provide a user of PD 112 with personalizedvideo content recommendations based on the interactions/cooperation withSVD 102, using PD 112, and/or between PD functions 161 and SVDcooperation functions 162. Recommendation function 242 may be furtherconfigured to employ other data available on PD 112, for example, tracedata, such as location visited, recorded by a GPS on PD 112.

Before continuing with further description, it should be noted whileembodiments of SVD 102 and PD 112 were illustrated in FIG. 2, with bothdevices respectively having recommendation functions 220 and 242, andfacial/gesture recognition services 218 and 244, other embodiments maybe practiced with only one or none of SVD 102 and PD 112 having arecommendation function or facial/gesture recognition service.Similarly, while for ease of understanding, video/image/data services214 and 234, and facial/gesture recognition services 218 and 244 havebeen described as combined services, in alternate embodiments, thepresent disclosure may be practiced with one or both of these servicessub-divided into separate services, e.g., video/image/data servicesub-divided into separate video, image and data services, orfacial/gesture recognition service sub-divided into separate facial, andgesture recognition services.

Accordingly, on registration or association, PD cooperation function 152and SVD cooperation function 162 may cooperate to facilitatepersonalized video content consumption by a user of PD 112. For example,control by PD function 216 and SVD control function 236 may cooperate toenable a user of PD 112 to control operations of SVD 102. Morespecifically, with facial/gesture recognition service recognizing aparticular user gesture, control by PD function 216 and SVD controlfunction 236 may cooperate to respond and enable a segment of a videostream being rendered on SVD 102 be re-played on PD 112. Further, inresponse to a recognition of another user gesture input, control by PDfunction 216 and SVD control function 236 may cooperate to enable avideo stream being rendered on SVD 102 to stop, pause, fast forward orrewind. Similarly, in response to a recognition of still anothergesture, control by PD function 216 and SVD control function 236 maycooperate to enable a PIP 108 of SVD 102 be enlarged or shrunk, or twovideo streams being rendered in a main picture and in a PIP 108 beswapped.

As still another example, recommendation function(s) 220 and/or 242,individually or in combination, may be employed to analysis pastinteractions or cooperation, and make various recommendations, such as,other video content to be viewed on SVD 102, other web sites or contentto be visited/browsed on PD 112, and/or other items to be purchased.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method of personalized video contentconsumption using shared and personal devices, in accordance withvarious embodiments. As illustrated, method 300 may begin at block 302and/or 304 with SVD 102 and/or PD 112 register or associate with eachother, to be described more fully below, with references to FIG. 4. Invarious embodiments, method 300 may be practiced with PD 112 registeringitself with SVD 102 or otherwise associating SVD 102 to itself. In otherembodiments, method 300 may be practiced with SVD 102 registering itselfwith PD 112 or otherwise associating PD 112 with itself. In still otherembodiments, method 300 may be practiced with SVD 102 and PD 112registering or otherwise associating themselves with each other.

In various embodiments, SVD 102 and PD 112 may also exchangeconfiguration information, as part of the registration process, tofacilitate subsequent communications. For example, SVD 102 and PD 112may exchange their respective capability information, such as,processing power, encoding/decoding schemes supported, messagingprotocols supported, and so forth. In various embodiments, SVD 102and/or PD 112 may also be configured, as part of the registrationprocess, to cause required software and/or updates to be pushed toand/or installed on the other device.

On registration or association, method 300 may proceed to block 306where PD 112 may receive an indication or a selection from a user of PD112 to have SVD 102 and PD 112 cooperate to provide personalized userfunctions. From block 306, method 300 may proceed to block 308, where PD112 may cooperate with SVD 102 to facilitate cooperative provision ofpersonalized user functions to the user.

At block 308, a control of SVD 102 may be received. As describedearlier, the control may be inputted via a gesture of the user of PD112. The control, as described earlier, may include, but is not limitedto, requesting a replay of a segment of a video stream being rendered onSVD 102 on PD 112, requesting SVD 102 to stop, pause, fast forward orrewind a video stream being rendered on SVD 102, requesting anenlargement or shrinking of a PIP 108, and/or requesting the mainpicture and a PIP 108 be swapped. On receipt of the control, method 300may proceed from block 308 to block 318, then onto block 320 to causethe control be sent from PD 112 to SVD 102, and the control be processedand responded to on SVD 102. From block 320, if the control is to replaya video segment on PD 112, method 300 may return to block 308 via blocks312 and 310, otherwise, method 300 may return to block 308, via block318.

Additionally, or in lieu of the earlier described operations, at block308, method 300 may proceed to block 322, where analysis of historicalvideo content consumption, user actions associated with the videocontent consumed, interactions/cooperation between SVD 102 and PD 112may be performed, and personalized recommendations for other contentconsumption or user actions may be presented to the user of PD 112.

Thereafter, the above described operations may be repeated, in responseto various further user inputs. Eventually, method 300 may proceed fromblock 308 to block 324, wherein a user input to exit the cooperativeprovision of user function may be received. On receipt of such input,method 300 may terminate.

In various embodiments, in addition to facilitating personalized videocontent consumption by the user of PD 112, using both SVD 102 and PD112, method 300 may also include SVD 102 and PD 112 cooperative toprovide personalized user functions. Examples of such personalized userfunctions may include annotation of images and/or objects within theimages associated with video content consumed, performing onlinesearches, interacting with social network, and/or conduct e-commercetransactions, based on or resulted as least in part because of imagesand/or objects within images associated with video content consumed. Forsuch cooperative personalized user function provision, method 300 mayfurther transitions from block 308 to blocks 310 and 312, and back, orto blocks 314 and 316 and back. Cooperative personalized user functionprovision is the subject of co-pending application, attorney docket110466-182901, contemporaneously filed. For further details, refer tothe co-pending application.

FIG. 4 illustrates various examples of facial recognition based methodsof registration and/or association between the shared and personaldevices, in accordance with various embodiments. As illustrated, method400 may begin e.g., at block 402, with SVD 102 (equipped with an imagecapturing device, such as, a camera) capturing pictures of its users. Invarious embodiments, SVD 102 may capture pictures of its users bycapturing a picture of the space in front SVD 102, and then analyze thepicture (using e.g., facial/gesture recognition service 218) for facesof users. On identifying new user faces, SVD 102 (using e.g.registration/association function 212) may generate pictures of the newusers. SVD 102 may perform the capture and generate operationsperiodically, e.g., on power on, and therefore periodically on a timebasis or on an event driven basis, e.g. on changing of the video streambeing rendered or on changing of the genre of the video stream beingrendered.

From block 402, method 400 may proceed to block 404, where SVD 102, inresponse to detection of PD 112 or contact by PD 112, may send picturesof users of SVD 102 to PD 112. From block 404, method 400 may proceed toblock 406, where PD 112, for certain “manual” embodiments, may displaythe received pictures for a user of PD 112 to confirm whether one of thereceived pictures is a picture of the user of PD 112. Alternatively, PD112, for certain “automated” embodiments, using e.g., facial/gesturerecognition service 244, may compare the received pictures with areference picture of the user of PD 112. The reference picture of theuser of PD 112 may be previously provided to PD 112, or captured by PD112 (for embodiments equipped with an image capture device, such as, acamera).

From block 406, method 400 may proceed to block 408, where PD 112, forthe “manual” embodiments, may receive a selection of one of the receivedpictures from the user of PD 112, indicating the selected picture of theuser of SVD 102 corresponds to the user of PD 112. For the “automated”embodiments, PD 112 may select one of the received pictures thatsubstantially match the reference picture.

From block 408, method 400 may proceed to block 410, where PD 112 mayassociate itself with SVD 102. In associating itself with SVD 102, PD112 may send the selection info (provided by the user or by thecomparison operation) to SVD 102 to register itself with SVD 102 (or alogical unit of SVD 102, such as, a PIP 108 of a television 106 of SVD102).

From block 410, method 400 may proceed to block 412, where SVD 102 mayrespond to the provided selection, and associate itself with PD 112,including, associating the user of the selected picture with PD 112. Invarious embodiments, where PD 112 also maintains a map of the variousSVD 102 it is associated with (such as a SVD 102 at the primaryresidence, a SVD 102 at the beach house, and so forth), in response, SVD102 may register itself with PD 112.

In alternate embodiments, from block 404, method 400 may proceed toblock 422 instead, where at block 422, SVD 102 may contact an externalsource, e.g., a cloud computing server, to obtain identification and/orconfiguration information of PD 112, using the captured/generatedpictures of its users. From block 422, method 400 may proceed to block412, where SVD 102 may associate itself with all PD 112 it was able toobtain at least identification information, including, respectivelyassociating the user pictures with the PD 112 it was able to obtainidentification information based on the user pictures.

In alternate embodiments, method 400 may also begin at block 432instead, with PD 112, contacting an external source, e.g., a cloudcomputing server, to obtain identification and/or configurationinformation of SVD 102. If successful, from block 432, PD 112 mayproceed to block 410, where PD 112 associates SVD 102 to itself. Atblock 410, PD 112, may register itself with SVD 102. From block 410,method 400 may proceed to block 412, as described earlier.

FIG. 5 illustrates a user view of an example cooperative personalizeduser function provision by shared and personal devices, in accordancewith various embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated,initially, the example cooperative personalized user function provision500 may present the user of PD 112 with the option, via, e.g., an icondisplayed on PD 112, to launch SVD cooperative functions 162. Inresponse to the selection of the option, the user of PD 112 may bepresented with the options of selecting SVD registration/associationfunction 232, or SVD Control 236 for facilitating personalized videocontent consumption. In various embodiments, the user of PD 112 may befurther presented with the option of SVD video/image/data service 234.

On selection of SVD registration/association function 232, variousregistration and/or association operations 508, such as message based orfacial recognition based registration/association, as earlier described,may be performed. On selection of SVD Control function 236, the user ofPD 112 may be provided with the gesture recognition function 516 toreceive and accept gestures to control SVD 102, e.g., to enlarge orshrink a PIP 108, to swap two video streams between the main picture anda PIP 108, or to stop, pause, fast forward or rewind a video streambeing rendered on SVD 102.

In embodiments where the option of SVD video/image/data service 234 isalso provided, on selection of SVD video/image/data service 234, theuser of PD 112 may be presented with the options of requesting 502 avideo segment of a video stream being rendered on SVD 102, or requesting504 an image frame of a video stream being rendered on SVD 102. Onselection of either requesting 502 or requesting 504, the requestedvideo segment may be played 506, the image frame or one or more objectsthere may be annotated 238, and/or stored 240, with or withoutannotation. Further, various browser 228 related functions may beperformed. FIG. 6 illustrates a user view of annotating an image or anobject within, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Shown in FIG. 6 is an image 612 with objects 614, one ofwhich is selected 616, and having a pop-up area 618 for enteringannotations, and a pop-up menu 620 with various function optionscooperatively provided by SVD 102 and PD 112. These features are thesubjects of the Related Applications identified above. For furtherdetails, refer to the Related Applications identified above.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of cooperative personalized recommendationby shared and personal devices, in accordance with various embodimentsof the present disclosure. As illustrated, method 700 may start at block702 with PD 112, by itself or in cooperation with SVD 102, wherein videocontent consumption, user actions associated with video contentconsumed, the interactions and cooperation between PD 112 and SVD 102,may be recorded, and saved in PD 112, SVD 102, or a cloud computingserver. The operations of block 702 may be continuous.

From block 702, periodically, method 700 may proceed to block 704, whereSVD 102 and/or PD 112, individually or in combination, may analyze thestored information. From block 704, method 700 may proceed to block 706,wherein SVD 102 or PD 112 may make personalized video content and/orother related recommendations to the user of PD 112, based at least inpart on the result of the analysis. As described earlier, thepersonalized recommendations may include personalized recommendation ofa video stream, a web site, and so forth.

From block 706, method 700 may return to block 702, and proceedtherefrom as described earlier.

FIG. 8 illustrates a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, inaccordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Asillustrated, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 802 mayinclude a number of programming instructions 804. Programminginstructions 804 may be configured to enable a SVD 102 or a PD 112, inresponse to corresponding execution of the programming instructions bySVD 102 or PD 112, to perform operations of the SVD or PD portion ofmethods 300-400 earlier described with references to FIGS. 3 and 4. Inalternate embodiments, the programming instructions may be disposed intwo or more storage medium instead.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example computer system suitable for use as a SVDor a PD in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown, computing system 900 includes a number ofprocessors or processor cores 902, and system memory 904. For thepurpose of this application, including the claims, the terms “processor”and “processor cores” may be considered synonymous, unless the contextclearly requires otherwise. Additionally, computing system 900 includesmass storage devices 906 (such as diskette, hard drive, compact discread only memory (CD-ROM) and so forth), input/output devices 908 (suchas display, keyboard, cursor control, touch pad, camera, and so forth)and communication interfaces 910 (such as, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G/4Gnetwork interface cards, modems and so forth). The elements are coupledto each other via system bus 912, which represents one or more buses. Inthe case of multiple buses, they are bridged by one or more bus bridges(not shown).

Each of these elements performs its conventional functions known in theart. In particular, system memory 904 and mass storage 906 may beemployed to store a working copy and a permanent copy of the programminginstructions implementing the SVD or PD portion of methods 300-400earlier described with references to FIGS. 3 and 4, that is PDcooperation functions 152 or SVD cooperation functions 162, or portionsthereof, herein collectively denoted as, computational logic 922.Computational logic 922 may further include programming instructions topractice or support SVD functions 151 or PD functions 161, or portionsthereof. The various components may be implemented by assemblerinstructions supported by processor(s) 902 or high-level languages, suchas, for example, C, that can be compiled into such instructions.

The permanent copy of the programming instructions may be placed intomass storage 906 in the factory, or in the field, through, for example,a distribution medium (not shown), such as a compact disc (CD), orthrough communication interface 910 (from a distribution server (notshown)). That is, one or more distribution media having animplementation of computational logic 922 may be employed to distributecomputational logic 922 to program various computing devices.

The constitution of these elements 902-912 are known, and accordinglywill not be further described.

Content-Based Control

Content-based control (CBC), as referenced herein, may includecontrolling the operation of devices in arrangement 100 based on adetermination of content that is airing on a channel. A channel, asreferenced herein, may be defined as a stream of incoming contentassociated with a content provider. Examples of content providers thatmay be associated with channels include, but are not limited to,television programming broadcasters, cable operators, satellitetelevision programming providers, Internet-based programming providers,etc.

Many content providers broadcast advertisements on their channels. Whileadvertisements may be inconvenient and/or annoying for users, contentproviders realize income from including advertisements. Therefore, thereis no incentive for content providers to eliminate or even limit theamount of advertisements on a channel. If users are not interested inadvertisements, the time when the advertisements are airing on a channelmay be spent viewing other content, surfing the Internet, etc. In oneembodiment advertisements may be detected and monitored, allowing a userto pursue other activities while the advertisements are airing on thechannel, and to be notified when the advertisements are complete so thatviewing of content on the channel may continue.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of content-based control (CBC) inaccordance with at least one embodiment. PD 112 may be configured tointeract with content recognition module 1000 in SVD 102, for example,via wireless coupling 146 (illustrated in FIG. 1, omitted in FIG. 10 forclarity). Content recognition module 1000 may also be configured tointeract with cloud computing/web servers 132, for example, via accesspoint 110 and Internet 122 (illustrated in FIG. 1, omitted in FIG. 10for clarity). CBC may be activated automatically or manually in PD 112.For example, automatic activation may occur when PD 112 senses that thechannel being viewed on SVD 102 has changed. Sensing channel changes maybe performed by, for example, Control by PD function 216 (e.g., asillustrated in FIG. 2). Manual activation may include the configurationof a physical interface (e.g., pressing a button) or code-based button,switch, etc. in PD 112. Manual activation may also includeFacial/Gesture Recognition Service 218 (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 2)recognizing that a particular facial expression, hand gesture, etc. madeby the user is associated with the activation of CBC in PD 112.

Activation of CBC may cause PD 112 to transmit CBC instructions 1002(e.g., CBC instruction 1, CBC instruction 2 . . . CBC instruction n)instructing content to be sampled on a channel (e.g., in order todetermine when certain content is complete on the channel). CBCinstructions 1002 may be transmitted by PD 112 on an interval 1004 suchas, for example, every ten seconds. Interval 1004 may be predetermined,may be configured automatically (e.g., based on device processingcapacity and/or communication bandwidth availability), may be configuredmanually by a user in PD 112 or SVD 102, etc. In one embodiment, CBCinstructions 1002 may identify the channel to sample (e.g., the channelthat was being viewed on SVD 102 when CBC was activated). In the same oranother embodiment, CBC instructions 1002 may further identify thecertain content (e.g., the content on which control will be based). Thecertain content may be identified by name, subject matter, type (e.g.,advertisements), etc. Alternatively, the certain content may be definedin content recognition module 1000 (e.g., if control is always based onadvertisements), may be configured by a user in PD 112 or SVD 102, etc.Content recognition module 1000 may receive CBC instructions 1002, maysample content from the identified channel, and may transmit contentsamples 1006 to cloud computing/web servers 132 (e.g., Sample 1, Sample2 . . . Sample n). Content sampling and transmission may be performedby, for example, SVD video/image/data service 234 (e.g., as illustratedin FIG. 2).

As discussed in regard to PD Video/Image/Data Service 214 in FIG. 2,cloud computing/web servers 132 may include search services configuredto identify content and/or obtain metadata associated with content. Uponreceiving content sample 1006 from content recognition module 1000,cloud computing/web servers 132 may identify the content from whichcontent sample 1006 was sampled, and may transmit information 1008(e.g., information 1, information 2 . . . information n) to contentrecognition module 1000, wherein information 1008 may identify and/orprovide metadata regarding content sample 1006. Content recognitionmodule 1000 may then be configured to determine whether the certaincontent (e.g., advertisements) has concluded on the channel based oninformation 1008 provided by cloud computing/web servers 132. Forexample, content recognition module may receive information 1008allowing it to determine that programming content has resumed on thechannel. Content recognition module 1000 may then transmit contentcomplete message 1010 to PD 112.

Upon receiving content complete message 1010, PD 112 may activatenotification 1012. Notification 1012 may indicate to the user of PD 112that the certain content is complete on the channel (e.g., that theadvertisements have ended and/or that programming content has resumed onthe channel). Notification 1012 may be provided through a user interfacein PD 112. The user interface may include elements that are typicallyassociated with a smartphone, mobile phone, etc. including visualelements such as a display, LEDs, etc., audible elements such as aspeaker, and/or tactile elements such as electromechanical componentsconfigured to cause PD 112 to vibrate. Notification 1012 may comprise atleast one of visible, audible or tactile alerting including, forexample, illuminated and/or flashing indicators, noises, alarms,vibration, etc. In one embodiment, a code-based indicator may bedisplayed on the user interface indicating that the certain content(e.g., advertisements) is complete on the channel, and that the channelmay be displayed in SVD 102 by touching the code-based indicator. If theuser proceeds to touch the code-based indicator, Control by PD function216 (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 2) may then cause SVD 102 to displaythe channel. In another embodiment PD 112 may, in addition to providingthe notification to the user, automatically cause SVD 102 to display thechannel.

While content recognition module 1000 has been disclosed as residingfully in SVD 102, the various embodiments are not limited to thisconfiguration. Functions performed by content recognition module 1000may also be divided between PD 112 and SVD 102 depending on, forexample, the capabilities of each device. For example, if SVD 102 doesnot have the processing capacity to sample content and/or send thecontent samples to cloud computing/web servers 132, one or both of theseoperations may be performed by PD 112 (e.g., by PD Video/Image/DataService 214 as illustrated in FIG. 2). If PD 112 is configured toperform at least the content sampling operation, additionalfunctionality may also be provided for users to view and/or annotate thecontent samples. For example, a user may view a content sample, mayidentify the sample as associated with the certain content (e.g., as anadvertisement), and may then annotate the sample to indicate that thesample is associated with an advertisement, a product/service to whichthe advertisement pertains, etc. prior to transmission to cloudcomputing/web servers 132. The ability to provide user-submitted input(e.g., also known as “crowd-sourcing”) may increase the knowledge thatis available in cloud computing/web servers 132, and thus, may increasethe accuracy and/or speed of CBC. Moreover, the ultimate determinationas to whether the certain content is complete on the channel may also behandled, alone or in part, by PD 112.

A flowchart of example CBC operations from the perspective of PD 112 isillustrated in FIG. 11. CBC may be activated in operation 1100. CBCactivation may occur automatically or manually as described above. PD112 may then transmit a CBC instruction message in operation 1102. Adetermination may then be made in operation 1104 as to whether a messagehas been received in PD 112 indicating that certain content (e.g.,advertisements) is complete on the channel. If in operation 1104 it isdetermined that a message has not been received, then PD 112 may delayin operation 1106 for an interval set for CBC instruction transmission.Following the interval, another CBC instruction may be transmitted inoperation 1102. Alternatively, if in operation 1104 it is determinedthat a message indicating that the certain content is complete on thechannel was received in PD 112, then a notification may be activated inoperation 1108, the notification indicating to the user that the certaincontent is complete. The notification may be provided along with anoption to display the channel, automatically displaying the channel,etc.

A flowchart of example CBC operations from the perspective of SVD 102 isillustrated in FIG. 12. A CBC instruction may be received in SVD 102 inoperation 1200. In operation 1202 content from a channel (e.g., achannel indicated in the received CBC instruction) is sampled, and thecontent sample is transmitted (e.g., to cloud computing/web servers132). SVD 102 may then receive information regarding the previouslytransmitted content sample (e.g., from cloud computing/web servers 132)in operation 1204. In operation 1206 a determination may then be made,based on the received information, as to whether certain content (e.g.,advertisements) is complete on the channel. If it is determined inoperation 1206 that the certain content is not complete on the channel(e.g., that advertisements are still airing on the channel), then theprocess may return to operation 1200 in preparation for the receipt offurther CBC instructions. If a determination is made in operation 1206that the certain content is complete on the channel, then in operation1208 a content complete message may be transmitted.

While FIGS. 11-12 illustrate operations according to variousembodiments, it is to be understood that not all of the operationsdepicted in FIGS. 11-12 are necessary for other embodiments. Indeed, itis fully contemplated herein that in other embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the operations depicted in FIGS. 11-12 and/or otheroperations described herein may be combined in a manner not specificallyshown in any of the drawings, but still fully consistent with thepresent disclosure. Thus, claims directed to features and/or operationsthat are not exactly shown in one drawing are deemed within the scopeand content of the present disclosure.

As used in any embodiment herein, the term “module” may refer tosoftware, firmware and/or circuitry configured to perform any of theaforementioned operations. Software may be embodied as a softwarepackage, code, instructions, instruction sets and/or data recorded onnon-transitory computer readable storage medium. Firmware may beembodied as code, instructions or instruction sets and/or data that arehard-coded (e.g., nonvolatile) in memory devices. “Circuitry”, as usedin any embodiment herein, may comprise, for example, singly or in anycombination, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry such ascomputer processors comprising one or more individual instructionprocessing cores, state machine circuitry, and/or firmware that storesinstructions executed by programmable circuitry. The modules may,collectively or individually, be embodied as circuitry that forms partof a larger system, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), systemon-chip (SoC), desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers,servers, smart phones, etc.

Thus, the present disclosure provides a method and system forcontent-based control. During content-based control a stream of content(e.g., a channel) may be sampled, and each sample may be transmitted toa remote processing resource. The remote processing resource may atleast identify each sample, and may respond with information related toeach sample. The information may be utilized to determine when certaincontent (e.g., advertisements) is complete on the channel. When it isdetermined that the certain content is complete on the channel, anotification may be activated in a device, the notification possiblybeing in made combination with the option to select, or the automaticselection of, the channel for viewing.

According to one aspect there is provided a system. The system mayinclude at least one communications interface configured to transmit andreceive messages, a user interface configured to provide a notification,and one or more storage mediums. In addition, the one or more storagemediums having stored thereon, individually or in combination,instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in thefollowing operations comprising transmitting at least one messageincluding instructions to sample content from a channel, receiving amessage indicating that certain content on the channel is complete, andactivating a notification indicating that the certain content on thechannel is complete.

According to another aspect there is provided a system. The system mayinclude at least one communications interface configured to transmitmessages, receive messages and receive audio/visual content, and one ormore storage mediums. In addition, the one or more storage mediumshaving stored thereon, individually or in combination, instructions thatwhen executed by one or more processors result in the followingoperations comprising receiving a message including instructions tosample content from a channel, sampling content from the channel,transmitting a message including the content sample, receiving a messagecomprising information related to the content sample, and determiningwhether certain content is complete on the channel based on the receivedinformation.

According to another aspect there is provided a system. The system mayinclude one or more storage mediums having stored thereon, individuallyor in combination, instructions that when executed by one or moreprocessors result in the following operations comprising transmitting atleast one message including instructions to sample content from achannel, receiving a message indicating that certain content on thechannel is complete, and activating a notification indicating that thecertain content on the channel is complete.

According to another aspect there is provided a system. The system mayinclude one or more storage mediums having stored thereon, individuallyor in combination, instructions that when executed by one or moreprocessors result in the following operations comprising receiving amessage including instructions to sample content from a channel,sampling content from the channel, transmitting a message including thecontent sample, receiving a message comprising information related tothe content sample, and determining whether certain content is completeon the channel based on the received information.

According to another aspect there is provided a method. The method mayinclude transmitting at least one message including instructions tosample content from a channel, receiving a message indicating thatcertain content on the channel is complete, and activating anotification indicating that the certain content on the channel iscomplete.

According to another aspect there is provided a method. The method mayinclude receiving a message including instructions to sample contentfrom a channel, sampling content from the channel, transmitting amessage including the content sample, receiving a message comprisinginformation related to the content sample, and determining whethercertain content is complete on the channel based on the receivedinformation.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the artthat a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations maybe substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described, withoutdeparting from the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations ofthe embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intendedthat the embodiments of the present disclosure be limited only by theclaims and the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed:
 1. A system, comprising: at least one communicationsinterface configured to transmit and receive messages; a user interfaceconfigured to provide a notification; and one or more storage mediumshaving stored thereon, individually or in combination, instructions thatwhen executed by one or more processors result in the followingoperations comprising: transmitting at least one message includinginstructions to sample content from a channel; receiving a messageindicating that certain content on the channel is complete; andactivating a notification indicating that the certain content on thechannel is complete.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein more than onemessage is transmitted, the messages being transmitted on an interval.3. The system of claim 1, wherein more than one message is transmitted,the messages being transmitted until the message indicating that thecertain content on the channel is complete is received.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the certain content is advertisements.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the notification is at least one of a visual, audibleor tactile notification.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein thenotification provides an option to select the channel for viewing on adevice.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising selecting thechannel for viewing on a device.
 8. A system, comprising: at least onecommunications interface configured to transmit messages, receivemessages and receive audio/visual content; and one or more storagemediums having stored thereon, individually or in combination,instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in thefollowing operations comprising: receiving a message includinginstructions to sample content from a channel; sampling content from thechannel; transmitting a message including the content sample; receivinga message comprising information related to the content sample; anddetermining whether certain content is complete on the channel based onthe received information.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the receivedmessage further identifies the certain content.
 10. The system of claim8, wherein the message is transmitted to a remote processing resource,the remote processing resource including at least one server.
 11. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the information related to the content sampleat least identifies the content from which the sample was taken.
 12. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the instructions that when executed by one ormore processors result in the following additional operations:transmitting a message indicating that the certain content is completeon the channel after the certain content is determined to be complete onthe channel.
 13. A system, comprising one or more storage mediums havingstored thereon, individually or in combination, instructions that whenexecuted by one or more processors result in the following operationscomprising: transmitting at least one message including instructions tosample content from a channel; receiving a message indicating thatcertain content on the channel is complete; and activating anotification indicating that the certain content on the channel iscomplete.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein more than one message istransmitted, the messages being transmitted on an interval.
 15. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein more than one message is transmitted, themessages being transmitted until the message indicating that the certaincontent on the channel is complete is received.
 16. The system of claim13, wherein the certain content is advertisements.
 17. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the notification is at least one of a visual, audibleor tactile notification.
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein thenotification provides an option to select the channel for viewing on adevice.
 19. The system of claim 13, further comprising selecting thechannel for viewing on a device.
 20. A system, comprising one or morestorage mediums having stored thereon, individually or in combination,instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in thefollowing operations comprising: receiving a message includinginstructions to sample content from a channel; sampling content from thechannel; transmitting a message including the content sample; receivinga message comprising information related to the content sample; anddetermining whether certain content is complete on the channel based onthe received information.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein thereceived message further identifies the certain content.
 22. The systemof claim 20, wherein the message is transmitted to a remote processingresource, the remote processing resource including at least one server.23. The system of claim 20, wherein the information related to thecontent sample at least identifies the content from which the sample wastaken.
 24. The system of claim 20, wherein the instructions that whenexecuted by one or more processors result in the following additionaloperations: transmitting a message indicating that the certain contentis complete on the channel after the certain content is determined to becomplete on the channel.
 25. A method, comprising: transmitting at leastone message including instructions to sample content from a channel;receiving a message indicating that certain content on the channel iscomplete; and activating a notification indicating that the certaincontent on the channel is complete.
 26. The method of claim 25, whereinmore than one message is transmitted, the messages being transmitted onan interval.
 27. The method of claim 25, wherein more than one messageis transmitted, the messages being transmitted until the messageindicating that the certain content on the channel is complete isreceived.
 28. The method of claim 25, wherein the certain content isadvertisements.
 29. The method of claim 25, wherein the notification isat least one of a visual, audible or tactile notification.
 30. Themethod of claim 25, wherein the notification provides an option toselect the channel for viewing on a device.
 31. The method of claim 25,further comprising selecting the channel for viewing on a device.
 32. Amethod, comprising: receiving a message including instructions to samplecontent from a channel; sampling content from the channel; transmittinga message including the content sample; receiving a message comprisinginformation related to the content sample; and determining whethercertain content is complete on the channel based on the receivedinformation.
 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the received messagefurther identifies the certain content.
 34. The method of claim 32,wherein the message is transmitted to a remote processing resource, theremote processing resource including at least one server.
 35. The methodof claim 32, wherein the information related to the content sample atleast identifies the content from which the sample was taken.
 36. Themethod of claim 32, further comprising transmitting a message indicatingthat the certain content is complete on the channel after the certaincontent is determined to be complete on the channel.